Howitzer OK'd at memorial site

Once approved by the Army, the Howitzer cannon in Marble Rock will have a new home.

Staci Schwickerath

Once approved by the Army, the Howitzer cannon in Marble Rock will have a new home.

The city council June 22 approved, in a 4-to-0 vote, to place the cannon at the new location for the Marble Rock Veterans Assocation’s memorial. Council member Tracy Merfeld was absent for the vote.

Marble Rock Mayor J.R. Ackley said that he hopes the approval will end the controversy over the cannon, an issue which has divided the community for more than a year.

The memorial was originally intended to be constructed in Memorial Park on the corner of Bradford and Main streets, where the cannon had originally been displayed. Claims of asbestos under Memorial Park delayed progress on the monument at that location.

In May, property was donated to the American Legion by Jack and Marilyn Reid of Greene for the new memorial location. The park, 415 Bradford St., has been named the Marble Rock Area Veterans Memorial Park.

At the June 4 council meeting, a motion was approved to lease a portion of the new memorial site to the city so that the cannon can be placed with the memorial. The cannon is property of the Army and must be located on city property, according to the lease agreement.

Ackley said he has been instructed by the Army of four requirements for the cannon to be displayed at the new memorial site. The requirements are a landowner’s permission; a letter from the mayor stating that the Howitzer should be moved to the Legion property for display; a copy of approved Council minutes that show the Council has given permission to be displayed on the site; and a photograph showing where the cannon will be displayed.

If the minutes are approved at the regular council meeting July 2, the only thing still needed is the letter from the mayor.

“I’m going to write that and send it with the approved minutes after the July meeting,” Ackley said. “Hopefully, we can get this all done with and move on.”

He said the special meeting was necessary to have the resolution and the minutes approved before July 5, the deadline set by the Army for all the information it needs on the placement of the cannon.

A press release sent out by the Veterans Association a week ago said that with the resolution on placing the cannon, district court action would no longer be necessary.

A request for an injunction was filed by council members Tracy Merfeld, Donald Hutzell and Beverly Fisher against Ackley and Park Board Chairperson Susan Nelson on May 22. The application requested both a temporary and permanent injunction to prevent Ackley or Nelson from authorizing the return of the cannon to the Army, unauthorized construction projects and unauthorized expenditures of city funds. The injunction application has been withdrawn.

The memorial will include flags, landscaping and three marble slates that with the names of local veterans. Two more slates can be added if more space for names is needed. So far, approximately 400 names, dating as far back as the Civil War, have been included.

The Veterans Association plans to dedicate the memorial Aug. 10 to kick off the 2007 Marble Rock Fun Days.